One page or two? We break down the ideal resume length based on your experience level and industry.
Less than 2 years experience: 1 page, always.
2-10 years experience: 1-2 pages.
10+ years or senior leadership: 2 pages maximum.
Academic / Research roles: CV format, 3+ pages acceptable.
Recruiters spend an average of 6 seconds on a first read. A concise, packed single page forces you to keep only your strongest material. A sprawling 3-page resume dilutes your impact.
The exception: senior leaders, academics, and those with genuinely distinct roles across multiple companies who need context.
1. Remove jobs older than 10 years unless they are directly relevant
2. Cut bullet points to 3-4 per role — keep only the most impactful
3. Remove obvious skills (Microsoft Word, basic Excel) unless the role specifically requires them
4. Trim the objective/summary to 2 sentences max
5. Reduce margins to 0.5 inches and font size to 10-11pt
6. Combine short-tenure roles if they were similar
Our ATS scorer checks word count and flags if you are over or under the optimal range.
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